George agobian



PATENTED JAN. 12, 1904.

0; AGOBIAN. MATCH B0X.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1903.

No MODEL.

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Patented January 12, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE AGOBIAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MATCH-Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,600, dated January 12, 1904. Application filed April 8, 1903. Serial No. l5l,630. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it nur/y concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE AGOBIAN, a citi- Zen of Turkey, residing at the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Match-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

The objectof my invention is to provide a new and improved match-box which is simple in construction and operation and is so constructed that only a single match can be removed at a time, thus preventing indiscriminate waste of matches.

With the match-box is combined a cigarcutter for cutting off the tip of the cigar in the same operation of delivering a match.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, Figure Lis a vertical longitudinal sectional view of my improved match-box. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View of the same.

This box is preferably made of cast metal, but may as well be made of sheet metal or other material. It is provided with a receptacle or hopper A for receiving the matches, which hopper has a cover B, provided at one end with a tooth or tenon B, which extends in a suitable socket or hole in the rear wall of the hopper. At the front end the cover engages a tenon B2 on the front wall ofv the hopper and can be locked in place by a sliding springlatch B3 of any suitable construction. A follower C, fitting in the hopper, is pressed down upon the matches in the hopper by a helical spring O, resting on the hopper, and having its upper end within a hollow protuberance or head D on the cover-plate B. The front and rear wallsLof the hopper are `curved and made converging, as shown atE and E', so as to guide and conduct the matches to the bottom of the hopper, at which a slot is formed. A fluted roller F, preferably covered with soft rubber, is mounted transversely-that is,.parallel with the matches in the hopperwin such a manner that it can rock to and fro, said roller being a short distance above the bottom slot of the hopper. Be-

neath the hopper a sliding plate Gis mounted to reciprocate from front to rear and is drawn toward the rear by a spring H, attached to said plate and to a suitable fixed support. This `plate is provided with a slot J, parallel with and directly beneath the slot in the hopper, the rear edge ofV this slot being preferably beveled. This slot J is of such width that vonly one match can pass into the same. The front edge of the slot is made at right angles to the top and bottom of the slot. A knife-edge K is formed at the bottom of the hopper directly in advance of the front edge of the slot J when the plate G is in its normal condition, for a purpose that will be set forth hereinafter.

The sliding plate G rests and slides upon a fixed plate L, provided with a slot L, through which two cam-arms M project from a rocking shaft N beneath said plate L, and against these cam-arms the rear edge of the sliding plate G is pressed by the spring H, which is preferably located between the cam-arms. A curved arm O is attached to one end of the rock-"shaft N and extends up to a front corner of the casing, where it is provided with a finger-plate O'. An arm P (shown in dotted lines in Fig. l) is secured on the shaft of the rocking fluted roller F and is connected by a connecting-rod P with the arm O. An inclined guide-plate Q, beneath the fixed plate L andsliding plate G, has its upper end directly below the front edge of the plate G and at its lower end is provided with upwardlyextending iianges Q.

Anotch Q2 for inserting the finger is formed in the front lower edge of the guide-plate Q. When the device is also to be used for cutting off the top of a cigar, a fixed blade R,

cigar, projects from the front of the casing directly above the sliding plate G, and at the front edge of said sliding plate G a steel blade S is secured for cutting o the top in conjunction with the blade R. A removable tray T or box for the tips that have been cut off is placed in the lower part of the device.

The operation is as follows: When the plate G is in the normal position, its slot J is closed by the plate L, the front edge of which is directly in front of the front edge of the slot J, thus preventing the matches from dropping out. Then a match is desired, the lever O is having a hole R' for receiving the top of the V IOO pressed downward, causing' the armsl M to press the plate G toward the front, whereby the slot J is brought in front of the front edge of the plate L and the match in the slot is also 'carried forward, and when said slot passes beyond the front edge of the plate L the match a drops down upon the upper end of the inclined plate Q and slides upon the same until its rests against the flanges Q. It can then easily be picked olf by means of a nger passed through the slot Q2. When the lever O is released, the spring H pulls back the sliding plate G, and by the action of said plate on the cams M the lever O is swung upward. Every time that the lever O is depressed the fluted roller F is rocked forward, and when the lever O is released and swung upward the fluted roller F is rocked to the rear, and thus tends to keep the matches in the hopper parallel with each other and also with the slot J, and thus greatly facilitates the proper delivering of the matches into said slot J.

Although the slot J is made of such width as to adapt it to receive only one match of ordinary width, it sometimes happens, especially if a smaller match is in the slot, that a second match also rests partly in this slot, and when the plate G is moved forward this second match rides up on the knife-edge K and is thus removed from the slot. When the plate G is in the position of rest, there is always one match in the slot J, and when said plate G is moved forward this match drops out ofthe slot, and when the plate G returns to its normal position another match passes into the slot, and so on.

In case a cigar-tip is to be cut off the cigar is held vertically in such a manner that the tip is within the hole R' in the blade R, and when the plate G moves to the front the blade S on said plate cuts o the projecting tip,which drops through the notch Q in the plate Q into the boX T. rfhis device is not only adapted for delivering matches, but equally as well for toothpicks, and for such use it has the advantage that a toothpick is never handled before it is delivered to the user,as the user is not compelled to pick his toothpick out of a quantity and touch several before he selects one.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

Al. The combination with a hopper, having a bottom slot, of a sliding plate mounted beneath the hopper, and having a slot parallel with the slot in the hopper, a liuted roller mounted in the hopper, parallel with and above the slot, a lever for moving the sliding plate beneath the hopper, and means for rocking the iuted roller from the lever for moving the sliding plate, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with ahopper, provided with a slot in its bottom, of a iiuted roller mounted parallel with and above said slot, a sliding plate beneath the hopper, and provided with a slot parallel with the slot in the hopper, a spring acting on said plate to move the same toward the rear, a supporting-plate beneath said sliding plate, an inclined receivingplate at the front end of said supporting-plate, and means for simultaneously moving the sliding plate and working the fluted roller, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a hopper having a slot in its bottom, of a fluted roller mounted in the hopper, parallel with and above the slot, an arm on one end of said roller, a plate mounted beneath the hopper and having a slot parallel with the slot in the hopper, a plate supporting said sliding plate, a springdrawing said sliding plate toward the rear, a rock-shaft having cams for moving the sliding plate toward the front, an arm on one end of said rocking shaft, and a rod connecting an arm on the liuted roller with the arm on said rock-shaft, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a hopper having a slot in its bottom, of a luted roller in the hopper parallel with and above said slot, a sliding plate beneath the hopper and provided with a slot parallel with the slot in the hopper, a Xed plate on the front of the hopper, and a blade fixed to the sliding plate to coact with the plate on the hopper, and means for moving the sliding plate to the front and working the fluted roller, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8d day of February, 1903.

GEORGE AGOBIAN.

Witnesses:

OsoAR F. GUNZ, ELLA OETGIN.

IOO 

